


A Valentine’s Confession

by heatherbee22



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith
Genre: Confessions, F/M, First Kiss, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:13:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heatherbee22/pseuds/heatherbee22
Summary: Prompt:Strike attempts, very badly, to express to Robin what she means to him.Take it where you will. Are they a couple? Is he just trying to express friendship without revealing he fancies her? Does she have to kiss him to shut him up?——————————————-This is my first ever fic and first ever attempt at writing anything (apart from university essays years ago!) I nearly didn’t post as feel a bit out of my depth but so wanted to have a little go at writing!There are 4 shortish chapters!Also, sorry to @LulaIsaKitten as I don't think my attempt fulfills your prompt very well.  I started out with an idea that kind of ended up being something else!  Hope you enjoy non the less!Any feedback or comments would be gratefully received!Thank you for reading and happy Valentine’s Day guys! 😊♥️
Relationships: Robin Ellacott/Cormoran Strike
Comments: 18
Kudos: 49
Collections: Cormoran Strike Valentine’s Day 2021 Prompt Meme Fun





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LulaIsAKitten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LulaIsAKitten/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [LulaIsAKitten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LulaIsAKitten/pseuds/LulaIsAKitten) in the [Cormoran_Strike_Valentines_Day_2021_Prompt_Meme](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Cormoran_Strike_Valentines_Day_2021_Prompt_Meme) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Strike attempts, very badly, to express to Robin what she means to him.
> 
> Take it where you will. Are they a couple? Is he just trying to express friendship without revealing he fancies her? Does she have to kiss him to shut him up?
> 
> ——————————————-
> 
> This is my first ever fic and first ever attempt at writing anything (apart from university essays years ago!) I nearly didn’t post as feel a bit out of my depth but so wanted to have a little go at writing!  
> There are 4 shortish chapters!  
> Also, sorry to @LulaIsaKitten as I don't think my attempt fulfills your prompt very well. I started out with an idea that kind of ended up being something else! Hope you enjoy non the less!  
> Any feedback or comments would be gratefully received!  
> Thank you for reading and happy Valentine’s Day guys! 😊♥️

The day dawned cold and grey. Strike woke up in much more pain than was usual, the result of slipping on ice trying to follow a mark the previous day.  
‘Bastard leg!’ he muttered to himself as he downed two paracetamol and two ibuprofen that were waiting on his bedside table. He already sensed that it was going to be one of those days.  
After hauling himself out of bed, he hastily showered and changed and went straight down to the office which was heated far better than his attic flat. It also offered milk that hadn’t gone off, and a tin of digestive biscuits that would have to suffice for breakfast. He made a mental note that he needed to get to the shop to get food supplies in for the upcoming weekend, he couldn’t keep living on takeaways and slip back into bad habits after working so hard to get healthier this past year. He was just about to take the first restorative gulp of treacle-coloured tea, when the door intercom buzzed. It was a flower delivery ‘for Ellacott’. Strike scowled at the delivery man as he was handed the huge bouquet of white roses, sea thistle and fragrant stocks. He dumped the flowers on Robin’s side of the partner’s desk, noticing that the little envelope poking out of the bouquet was sealed.  
He went back to his tea and tried to turn his attention to his diary for today but the scent of the flowers filled his nostrils and his eye kept stealing to the bouquet which seemed to now dominate the room. His thoughts of having to go out and tail another mark for the morning mingled with those of a hospital car park and standing on the steps at Robin’s wedding……  
Who had sent her the flowers damn it?! And why was he so preoccupied, and dare he admit, upset by it? Of course there were moments, an increasing number of moments between them that he couldn’t ignore but it wasn’t as though he had laid any claim on her. Her divorce had come through nearly a year ago now and she was free to be sent flowers by whomever she chose. She had certainly made it quite clear exactly one year previous, that she did not want any flowers from him ever again!  
  
He suddenly heard footsteps, and the laughing voices of Robin and Pat entering the outer office together. ‘yeah, working tonight but we’re going for dinner tomorrow evening, should be fun!’ he overheard Robin say to Pat. It was at that point that he recalled what day it was and put two and two together. Strike was caught off balance, embarrassed.  
  
Robin walked in to the inner office, still wrapped in her coat and scarf, ‘Morning Cormoran, want another cup of..’ She was interrupted by Strike standing abruptly, his chair scraping loudly in the small room. He felt like he had been caught red-handed, as if she’d be able to see into his head and know that he had been thinking about her.  
‘Er, I’ve got to go, got a, you know, thing’, Strike looked anywhere but at Robin as he shuffled past her to grab his coat and make a hasty exit. As he reached the inner office door, he turned and momentarily looked at Robin who was stood staring open-mouthed with a confused expression on her face. Waving his hand in the vicinity of the flowers, he croaked accusingly, ‘ _they _came this morning. For you.’ He cleared his throat and muttered a goodbye before turning and heading out of the office. Robin could swear she heard a ‘_ fuck’s_ _sake_ ‘ as he walked away.  
  
‘Good morning to you too!’ Pat shouted after the closing door. Robin came back into the outer office still looking totally perplexed. ‘What did you say to him then?’ rasped Pat. ‘Nothing. I didn’t say anything!’ Robin answered. ‘Rude bugger didn’t even bother saying good morning to me!’ Pat commented, looking back to the computer screen and taking another drag on her vape.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery of who sent Robin the flowers and her valentine's plans are revealed!

After making tea for herself and Pat, Robin moved back into the inner office. Setting her tea down, she noticed Strike’s half eaten biscuit and nearly full cup of tea and shook her head in bewilderment. He had looked as though he had just received bad news and was livid about it. She turned her attention to the bouquet of flowers. Bending down to smell them, she took the tiny envelope and ripped it open.

Dear Robin,

Happy Valentine’s Day

All our love, Mum and Dad xxx

Robin dug her mobile out of her bag that was resting on the desk and called her Mum.  
‘Mum, hi, thank you for the flowers, they’re beautiful. You really didn’t have to!’  
‘I know love, but we know it’s your first Valentine’s day since the divorce and we just wanted you to know we love you. Have you er, got any plans for today?’  
‘No, just work, I’m going out with Vanessa and some other mates tomorrow. You know, celebrate being single with friends and all that, Palentine’s Vanessa called it! Not that Vanessa is single but she’s working this evening and her fiancée OIiver is working tomorrow.’  
‘Palentines? What will they think of next?! Ok love, well have fun.’  
‘I will, see you in a few weeks. Love you Mum, give my love to Dad too’.  
  
Robin sat down and sipped her tea, musing on what a sorry state of affairs her love life was. She wasn’t really bothered about Valentine’s Day, never had been. Matt of course had done the whole showy thing of a dozen red roses and a reservation at a fancy restaurant every year. But flowers from her parents on today of all days just served as a reminder that she was very single nearly two years after splitting from Matthew. She had been on dates of course, but none of them had been right, none worth pursuing and deep down she knew why. She looked at the beautiful arrangement, the sea thistle instantly reminding her of Strike and the smell of the stocks taking her back to that accidental kiss they had shared during the Chiswell case. For a split second she had thought they may have been from Strike himself and then she had remembered Valentine’s day a year previous when they had had the mother of all arguments and he had thrown up in the street. They had come so far since then, they were closer than ever before but there was also an invisible line that they had dared not cross. It was mostly fine but on occasion, when they were alone, especially after one or both had had a drink there was a palpable tension, a sexual Chemistry that dim lights and alcohol seemed to unleash. On many occasions Robin had tried to reason with herself; these thoughts she had about her partner were just a consequence of him being the only meaningful male relationship in her life, he was a good friend, her best friend, that’s all. However, deep down she knew that it was more than that, him and her. She had no idea what had gotten into him that morning though. Had she done something to upset him? Or maybe something had happened, something with Charlotte perhaps…..Robin shook her head and vowed not to think about it. Well, at least not until tonight when she was home alone in bed, when her thoughts normally turned to him…..  
  
Robin spent the rest of the morning burying herself in paperwork. After lunch, she was due to swap with Michelle, observing the Mayfair home of a banker who believed his young wife was having an affair. She knew Barclay was due to take over surveillance from Strike around lunchtime and so she decided to call Strike to see if he wanted to have a sandwich together before she left, but it had gone straight through to voicemail.  
It was nearing 5 o’clock and dusk in London when Robin was finally done for the day. She had successfully managed to take several snaps of a well to do man who looked suspiciously similar to the banker husband and who Robin would later find out was the husband’s own brother. He had entered the house and subsequently left, passionately kissing the wife goodbye on the doorstep. She wasn’t looking forward to that final client meeting.  
  
She contemplated hopping on the tube to go back to Earl’s Court and home for a rare early night to herself but as she neared Green Park, her eye was caught by the golden bulbs of the Ritz Hotel signage lit against the quickly fading daylight. She automatically thought of Strike and pulled out her phone to see if she had received anything from him. Nothing. Without a second thought, her feet carried her a mile in the opposite direction.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to earlier that day. Strike has a conversation with Barclay and discovers a few things! Which then leads him to realise a few things!

Cormoran Strike was usually not one for self-pity. If he was he’d have been finished long ago but finding out that Robin was, whatever she was doing had somehow driven him to distraction and he had spent the day so far languishing in his own misery. After leaving the office he had immediately lit up and chain-smoked three benson and hedges before entering his favourite Soho greasy spoon and devouring a full English breakfast. To hell with being healthy. He immediately felt worse but lit another cigarette anyway, knowing that he now had to spend the next 3 hours in the cold, tailing the same mark from yesterday; a police officer suspected of getting too close to an informant, compromising a case Wardle had spent months working on. Wardle had hired the agency off the books and if successful it meant more future work for them. Today, however, Strike could not muster up any enthusiasm. The copper reminded Strike of Saul Morris and he had taken an instant dislike to him. Of course, the guy had not kept still and by the time Barclay came to relieve him he was tired, in pain and wore a look of thunder.  
Barclay entered the café opposite to the pub where Crooked Copper was currently drinking and sat down opposite Strike.  
‘Alright, you look like a bag o’ shite’ Barclay said in greeting.  
‘Cheers, Barclay, hello to you too. Are you ok to take over for the rest of the day?’  
‘Aye, no worries. I’ve promised the missus I’ll be back to take her for dinner though if that’s ok. The mother-in-law is looking after the bairn overnight so I might even get my end away.’  
Not wanting to think about Barclay’s sex life, Strike got up to leave. He needed a drink. ‘Fine, have a good night.’  
‘Wait, everything alright? You really don’t look happy. Nae got any plans for Valentine’s day? Is that it? You know you really should just stop beating around the bush and ask Robin out.’  
‘That’s not it!’ Strike growled. ‘And anyway, Robin already has a date. What would she want with me?’ he blurted out almost involuntarily. He shrugged on his coat and started to walk away.  
‘What do you mean, Robin already has a date?’ Barclay called after him. ‘I was just at the office handing in some receipts and Pat told me Robin was miserable because all she’d got was a bunch of flowers from her ma and pa and a date to have dinner with Vanessa tomorrow.’  
Strike stopped in his tracks. Immediately thoughts started swimming around his head, as he muttered back to Barclay, ‘well that’s um, that’s not even….I’ve got to go.’ He missed Barclay’s smirk as he practically ran out of the café and straight into the nearest pub. 

As he sat nursing his second pint, the first having gone down far too easily, he was still reeling from what Barclay had told him about Robin. He had spent the best part of two years telling himself that it was a bad idea to cross that line with her but when he had thought that he had missed his chance, that she was seeing someone else, he had felt bereft. Time to face facts he told himself. His relationship with Robin was the best he had ever had with a woman. Every good thing in his life at this very moment was because of her. It was her opinion he valued above anyone else’s and her voice he wanted to hear whenever he felt less than ok. Not to mention he thought her incredibly sexy and had done since the day they had first met….. And that she regularly invaded his dreams as well as a good portion of his waking hours……  
Sighing deeply, he dragged his hands over his face and looked up at the ceiling. The realisation hit him like a freight train. He was in love with Robin.  
But did she even remotely feel a small part for him, of what he felt for her? What if he laid himself bare and it turned to disaster both for their relationship and the business? But could he go on as things were, knowing that the only outcome that would truly satisfy him would be Robin in his arms, in his bed? Didn’t he deserve a chance at happiness, to hell with the consequences? 

Before he knew it, it was dark outside and he was a double scotch and 4 pints down. Having not eaten since breakfast, he made his way back to Denmark Street via the Indian takeaway. As he slotted his key into the main door, curry and a six-pack of beer swinging in the other hand, he remembered that Robin had tried to call him. He would message her this evening, come up with some excuse and apologise for beng so weird earlier in the day. At least it was Friday, he wouldn’t be seeing her again until Monday so he had a couple of days to hopefully sort out his head and his heart. But as he trudged up the first flight of stairs, his leg hurting slightly more with each step, he noticed that the desk light in the office was on and the door was slightly ajar. As he entered the office, Robin was sitting at Pat’s desk and looked up at him from her phone, ‘Hi’. _Fuck_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many apologies for my dodgy attempt at a glaswegian accent for Barclay!


End file.
